“Additional Issues”
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk wrote on her Telegram channel that, according to her data, on February 16 alone, five civilians were killed and nine injured in Bakhmut.
According to him, “heavy fighting continues” in the city and “enemy artillery is operating in residential areas.”
“Honestly, I’m very surprised that 6,000 civilians are still out there doing this. According to the latest data, that’s how many people stay in the city. I appeal to the civilians in Bakhmut: If you are competent, law-abiding and patriotic citizens, you must evacuate immediately, ”Written Vereshchuk.
He explained that when civilians stay in the city, they, along with adults, “endanger themselves and their loved ones, especially children who are forced to stay”.
In addition, Vereshchuk noted that civilians who did not leave Bakhmut created “additional problems and risks” for all the people there – the army, the national police and volunteers – who tried to help them.
“Third, you are preventing our defense and security forces from functioning normally in the city. Because they should always keep your safety in mind. Therefore, I urge you to evacuate immediately. You know very well how to do this and where to go.”
Strategic importance of Bakhmut
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner PMC, told Izvestia that the capture of Bakhmut is of strategic importance for the Russian troops.
“What is Bakhmut for? It is necessary to completely paralyze the Ukrainian army. And he’s actually paralyzed. Wonderful, they stick to it: today, according to intelligence estimates, there are about 90 battalions in and around the city – this is 40-50 thousand people, ”Prigozhin said.
According to him, “the enemy is throwing new reserves every day”, but the Russian troops, together with the Wagner PMC militants, “advance every day in different directions” – “around 50, around 100 meters.” Prigozhin emphasized that “struggles continue for every house, every garden, a fortified area.”
In his opinion, the Russian Armed Forces should simultaneously attack other directions in the Donbass.
According to Izvestia, Bakhmut is the most important defense center of the Ukrainian armed formations. If Russian troops manage to take control of the city, they will be able to threaten the Ukrainian troops to take the highway from Artemovsk to Chasov Yar prematurely. This road is one of the two remaining routes for supplying the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On February 16, adviser to the acting head of the DPR, Igor Kimakovsky, said on Soloviev Live that Russian troops took control of all the heights around Bakhmut. According to him, “in fact, only a small corridor remains”, which is controlled by the RF Armed Forces, which “significantly hinders maneuvering for the transport of manpower and ammunition” by the enemy.
On the same day, a video appeared on Wagner-affiliated Telegram channels, in which four gunmen stated that their unit had “completely cut off the ammunition supply.” Prigozhin later said that the video showed the fighters of the PMC formed by him, and that they “in no way discredited” the Ministry of Defense. According to the businessman, the PMC bypassed “all known” offices in Moscow to supply “Wagner” with ammunition, and is ready to continue to do this, even if he himself is imprisoned “for discrediting the army.”
“It will not affect the war”
February 14 New York Times reportedUkrainian authorities stepped up their efforts to persuade the few thousand remaining civilians to leave Bakhmut. Journalists suggested that Kiev “may be preparing to withdraw from the city, which it has been vigorously defending for several months”.
“The city, which had a population of around 70,000 before the war, is constantly emptying as the fighting intensifies. According to local officials, there are still less than 5,000 residents, of whom about 140 are children. Now Ukraine wants them gone too,” the publication says.
At the same time, the US believes that Bakhmut “represents no particular strategic value for either Moscow or Kiev” – its value largely depends on the amount of blood spilled.
“Even if Bahmut falls, it will not have a strategic impact on the overall war. In the article quoting John Kirby, spokesperson for the US National Security Council, I would go so far as to say that this would not necessarily have a strategic impact on the conflicts in this part of the country.